I can't say I'm a fanboy of anything in particular, just love games in general. With the insane amount of time I waste researching and reading about games, hopefully I can pass on some of what I learn to the faithful D-toid community.

As open as that title leaves me to get busted on, it's true. I see a lot of people around the net proclaiming their love for all things Wii. For me though, I find myself not turning it on for weeks at a time. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for Metroid and loved Twighlight Princess, but aside from that (and the occasional playthrough of RE4), I think my Wii has just turned into something that sits next to my 360.

Do any of you guys honestly prefer the Wii over the 360 or the PS3? I think the Wii still has potential, but with games like Bioshock and the sure-to-be-awesome skate coming out left and right, Nintendo needs to really get on the ball to get me interested again. I have my flame shield are ready to go..

So according to Kotaku, this stunning beauty is the most recent MMORPG addict to take her gaming "life" a little bit too far. Turns out she flew from Australia to the US to take her 17 year old World of Warcraft boyfriend home with her.

Now, first of all, the fact that she is a 31 year old college student might have something to do with it, but why do these games drive people to do such ridiculous things? I am a lifelong fan of video games, and I play as much as I can. I just can't see the appeal of these massive online games. Sure, they might be cool for a while, but some people just go nuts with them. So basically, do any of you guys play games like WoW? What are some of the extreme length d-toiders have gone to feed their online addiction?

Ok, so I hate to have a post relate to politics in any way (since argument will inevitably ensue), but all the recent campaigning has got me thinking. All of the candidates talk about the same things - the war in Iraq, gas prices, etc... All of these are definitely key points, and certainly very important. But with all these major issue looming overhead, I sometimes wonder how my favorite pastime is going to be affected. I always see these pages littered with posts about Jack Thompson, so censorship sadly is a real issue.

What got me started on this whole line of thought was the fact that Hilary Clinton fought so hard against the Hot Coffee mod a few years back. At my job today, I came across this article that reported on Hilary Clinton causing a big stink over the apparent censorship of her memoirs in China. I can't even begin to explain how this hypocritical move has annoyed me.

Now, I don't know a whole lot about the other candidates' stances on censorship, but this whole fiasco has me worried. If one candidate is willing to throw video games (or movies, or the internet) under the bus, just to make a political statement, who's to say they all won't. With the UK's recent ban of Manhunt 2, it's starting to look like this nightmare scenario can become a reality.

Anyway, just figured it would be an interesting point to raise. How do you think politics is going to influence gaming in future years?

Web sites do these all the time, but it's always fun to see just how many bad covers made it onto the shelves over the years. Over at 1up.com, they actually have a fairly decent list of the worst video game box art of all time. Most of the titles are obscure, so I haven't seen some of them. Unfortunately, they left out some dandies, but it's a fun read nonetheless. Maybe they should make a list of the covers that misrepresented the actual game the most. That would be sweet. Anyway, check the article here (and another one here )

With all the bells and whistles of the xbox 360 and ps2, some of my favorite games of all time are the classic point and click adventure games of my childhood. They didn't require high-end graphics cards or much hand-eye coordination for that matter. All you needed was a sharp mind and a good sense of humor. The list is sure to generate many complaints, but in my eyes, it just doesn't get any better than these.

5. Leisure Suit Larry

Now admittedly, these games sort of suck when I look back on them. But you know what, when I was 8 years old, I didn't care. I was running around picking up hookers, and I thought it was hilarious. I didn't know what the hell a prophylactic was, and I thought Spanish fly was some sort of aspirin. In retrospect, this game was probably something a young kid should have been playing, but hey, look how good I turned out.... For better or worse, who knows, but for that reason alone, it makes the list.

4. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

When I was a kid, I respected Indiana Jones more than Jesus. If Harrison Ford came up to me and told me to to punch a myself in the face, I would have no choice but to pummel myself. This game was my first experience with an Indy game, and boy was it a good one. This was the first point and click game I can remember that successfully incorporated fast-paced action. It
also had a rockin' midi version of the Indy theme song.

3. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist

Sierra made a bunch of point and click games, all of which I owned. While they were all really good, this one just stands out to me. In fact, in all my years of gaming, Freddy Pharkas remains one of the greatest video game premises ever. You are a pharmacist. In the Old West. Hilarity ensues from that point on.

2. Day of the Tentacle

I must admit, I didn't play this one until years after its original release. For whatever reason, I just missed the boat on it. Once I did play it though, I realized what I was missing out on. A lot of the stuff that you can do in this game was ahead of its time. You could control multiple characters in multiple times, and it was a real challenge. Add to that the fact that the game was really funny, and you have a great game through and through. Plus, you have to love a game who has a main character named Hoagie.

1. Monkey Island

I don't even hesitate to choose this as my number one point and click game. The Monkey Island games simply had it all. It had killer music, a hilarious storyline, and a fairly decent challenge. Now, many of the games on this list have all those things, but none of them encompass them all so well. I still get a kick out of the sword fighting mechanic in the first game. How can you beat battling pirates by insulting them? Simple answer is that you can't. For anyone out there who hasn't played the Monkey Island games, go and get one right now. I promise you won't be disappointed. Plus, the word on the street is that a new MI game may be in the works. Keep your fingers crossed that we see Guybrush Threepwood again soon.

Over at kotaku, they have an article up that will surely satisfy the collector in all of us. Gamesniped is a place that goes through the trouble of finding the most interesting and relevant video game-related ebay auctions. No longer will you have to sift through the myriad of uninteresting and over-priced game auctions that clutter the site each day.

I think this is pretty awesome. You can find some really unique stuff on here, whether it be press kits or the more extravagant tv with NES built-in. In any case, I figured this would be something my fellow dtoiders would appreciate.